For any of the great photos' there has to be the element the "model" brings to the table, her own flare, her own style, along with the right set and lighting then mood kicks in..personalities etc... more important than all that is the camera, lighting, and props... John Stutz is one of the very best, but look at the women being placed in front of the camera... WOW hats off to the ladies and the muscle tone and bodies they each bring... as far as the head tilt...signature mark man signature mark...

For those of you who are John Stutz fans, he released this information on another website.

COMING SOON: Fit Girls, Volume 1

For the few of you not yet aware, I've been working on a book for quite a while now. It's entitled "Fit Girls, Volume 1" and is expected to be available towards the end of March. It encompases half of my best physique photography dating back to 2003. The other half will be available at the end of the year in my second book of the set, "Fit Girls, Volume 2".

I feel compelled to warn you ahead of time: Do not expect to see photos in the book similar to those on my web site -- the photos in the book are substantially better!! And most of them have never been seen before!!

Each volume measures 11"x14" and 1.75" thick!! It weighs in at around 8.5 pounds with 320 pages and 240 photographs. A total of 120 different fitness models (many of whom we all know and love) are represented in each volume. Here's a complete list of all the models featured in Volume 1:

I was recently perusing the web (as I often do on occasion to try and see how famous I am getting) and I happened upon this thread. So I thought I'd drop in to clear up a few rumors circulating these days regarding my future in fitness photography (all started by me of course!). ;-)

For the most part, the rumors are true, this is my last season shooting fitness. It was actually my intention to stop shooting fitness after last year, but there were several competitors I had missed the opportunity to shoot with, and who I wanted to include in my book. Plus, with too many photos to squeeze into one volume, I decided to add a second volume and stretch things out one more year.

Now, that isn’t to say that I won’t work with fitness competitors any more. On the contrary, I do expect to continue working with many competitors throughout the coming years. But my projects will be changing and therefore my terms and production values will be changing to meet my new goals. As such, I won’t be doing the quintessential, impromptu 3-hour fitness shoots in the future. Instead, I will be focusing on much larger productions that will take weeks of planning and days of shooting, costing upwards of several thousand dollars per shoot to produce. Nor will my models be limited to fitness athletes.

Oh he is going, sweetie. He has already stated he is about to move on to other subjects outside of fitness/athletic women. It may in part be his choice, but it is also due to the fact that he doesn't have the staying power of Bill Dobbins.

Too many of Stutz's photos have different women in the exact same poses. How many times is gonna use the "head back so you can't see the face" pic? He used it in one of his earliest shoots with Andi B. and has been milking it ever since.

Benny, you’re very insightful. I will be the first to admit that way too many of my photos *posted on my site* have the same pose. There is a reason for this though, which has to do with an impracticality of shooting in direct sunlight. It’s impossible for the model to look ahead into the camera without her eyeballs melting. So it’s a necessity to have her look away. That’s no excuse for posting the same pose a thousand times -- I’m not exactly proud of that and if I could make virtually all of my images posted on my site disappear from the web, I would in a heartbeat. That’s not likely to happen any time soon though. Also note that it's a conscientious of mine to either hide or de-emphasize the face in order to call attention to the body, which is the primary focus of my imagery. I want the viewer to look at (make that stare at) her obliques, abs, tris, quads, traps, glutes, etc., rather than inadvertantly wander to the eyes, which will uncontrollably occur if faces, eyes and smiles occupy any part of the frame.

Bear in mind also that the images posted on my site are more for the benefit of the models and other people who enjoy seeing such images. It’s generally expected that when I shoot with someone, I’ll post a nice handful of shots on my site. However, among the more than 2,000 photos posted on my site, in excess of 95% of them are among my third and fourth level quality shots. From the beginning of 2005, I began withholding all of my first and second best shots for publication in my forthcoming books and artworks. So with few exceptions, hardly anyone has seen my good shots for the last 3 years. Quite frankly, I’ve grown embarrassed about most of the photos posted on my site (and on this thread) since a vast majority of my good images have yet to be shown. Know that extremely few of the photos on my site would ever have been posted if they were just for me. Starting this season, you won’t see any more of my thirds and fourths from future shoots. Nor will I be displaying the old ones on my web site. You’ll just get the good ones from now on.

For a shot to be good enough for me to publish, it needs to have a unique quality that differentiates it from the crowd. Anyone I’ve shot with can tell you how particular I am about choosing wardrobe, and I’ve traveled the continent to shoot in as wide a variety of locations as possible -- heaven forbid I shoot with the same backdrop, flooring, and props for my entire career! For my published books, I have tried my darndest to present shots that are genuinely unique, which isn’t all that easy. Of course, this means keeping the number of “head tilts” to an absolute minimum. I’ve been aware of this for about 4 years now, and I think you’ll find comparatively few of those in my books. In practice, I yield an average of about 3-4 images per shoot these days worth showing off. This amounts to about 1 image per 150 clicks of my shutter. I expect that to worsen significantly as time goes on to closer to 1 per 500 down the road!!

As for my “staying power” -- that can only be determined over time. I only started shooting fitness in 2003, and before that I sucked so bad that I can’t even count the years prior. One of the reasons I am moving on is that I would like to be recognized in the future for a much broader and compelling collection of work that goes beyond fitness. In fact, my largest hope for my first book is that it will transcend the fitness industry and appeal to a much larger audience who may know nothing about the NPC, IFBB, Olympia, or Arnold. This may help to draw some positive attention back to the fitness industry if in fact I can succeed in that goal.

I think any artist who has “staying power” must evolve and continue to produce a variety of works over time. Choosing to limit one’s work to a singular subject for 30 years is not exactly artistic (nor healthy) if you ask me as there is only so much one can do within a single genre. For me, 2 Volumes, 640 pages, 480 photographs, and 150 models just about completes my work in this genre. If I haven’t decisively left my mark by then, well, I don’t know that 25 more years of the same will make much more of a difference. With the sole exception that I think my chances of “gettin' lucky” with the models will vastly improve over time, I still think it’s in my best interest to move on to additional genres.

Besides, the last thing I want when I’m dead and buried is to be remembered as “the bodybuilder photographer”. I’m comfortable leaving that title to Bill Dobbins. I’d like to see what other achievements I can accomplish in photography beyond shooting Pro Tan clad, muscular females (who I adore by the way). No doubt, my work will continue to be recognizable as Stutzian in the future, and no doubt you’ll see plenty more fit models in front of my camera. But my work must continue to evolve for me to remain happy and excited about what I am doing. Remember, this is just a hobby for me... at the time of this posting, my combined revenue for all of my photography totals exactly $0.00!! That was by choice.

Now for a blatant plug... Buy the book!! :-) Actually, you may not be aware of this, but when you purchase one of my books, you are supporting all of the models featured in them. Because this is my hobby and not my career, I’m not motivated by profit to produce these books. And because they all deserve the profits as much as I do, I am splitting all of the profits evenly with each and every one of the models who appear in either volume. We’re also donating a part of the profits from the book to charity, starting with the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, a charitable organization that is very near and dear to cover model, Shana Martin. I would encourage you to read about Shana’s special connection with this organization to understand why we’ve designated the HDSA as our charity for 2008.

I also want to commend everyone who has dedicated so much of their time and effort into sculpting their bodies into some of the most beautiful works of art on this planet. I am in complete awe of the achievements of the athletes in this industry and I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with so many. I am also grateful for the hundreds, if not thousands of friends who I continue to gain on a weekly basis through my involvement in this industry. And even when I’m no longer exclusively a “fitness photographer” you can bet that I’ll still be around for a long, long while. Going to the expos is still a thrill for me (you don't think anyone at home treats me like a celebrity do you?) and it’s yet another opportunity to see some of my closest friends that I only get to see maybe once or twice a year (if that).

Thanks for your support on this board as well. I greatly appreciate your compliments. And despite the rampant posting of my copyrighted material (I’ll look the other way for a short while because you all have been so flattering to me) I appreciate everything that is said (both the flattering and the constructive). Never forget that I can’t do what I do unless these women you see here do what they do. In my opinion, at least 50% of the credit goes to them as the primary artists of the work. When you read the preface of my book, you’ll understand how much I believe this to be true.

I thought the pics on your website were cool to download and post here...was I bad?

Everyone loves your work...how could they not? You are incredible!! And I am just bummed out that I haven't had the opportunity to work with you yet...but it sounds like all hope is not lost!

Thanks so much for the info and insight you provided. It's awesome to see you here. You have lots of fans, and hopefully this thread will lead to a few additional purchases of your book to make up for the "rampant posting of copywrighted material" I'll buy one to make it up to you!!

I'm also going to track you down at the Arnold and meet you in person. See you there!

Thanks much for all your enthusiasm and complimentary commentary. No, all hope is not lost. Though I must admit the future will hold very different opportunities for shooting with me that many people may prefer not to pursue. In the meantime, I'm still sticking mainly with my original recipe until I complete the work on Volume 2, which will continue up through this year's Olympia weekend. I am only doing 30 shoots this year though, and I am currently overbooked for them.

As for posting photos, it's generally never ok to take photos off any person's web site and post them elsewhere without their permission. However, to assume one can control that on the Web would be a bit naive. I knew from the start that any photo I posted would be borrowed, which is another reason not to have posted any of my good photos for the past several years. I currently strictly enforce copyright protections for any commercial use, but I would drive myself nuts if I tried to take down every photo reposted on the web. I'm also not oblivious to the fact that some reposting has beneficial consequences. But once the book is published and available I am obligated to protect my copyright rights on all of the photos published in the book. Failure of any copyright or patent owner to enforce their rights can undermine their ability to maintian those rights over time. Or in simple terms, any artist who chooses not to protect their work will see it legally turn into a public domain work in no time flat!

I would love to meet you (and anyone else too) at the Arnold. Definitely find me and say Hi. Because it's such a huge and crowded expo, here's how I tell people to easily find me... Start in the middle of the expo, locate the hottest girl around you, ask her where I am, and go in the direction she points you. Repeat every 5 miuntes or 2 aisles.

I would love to meet you (and anyone else too) at the Arnold. Definitely find me and say Hi. Because it's such a huge and crowded expo, here's how I tell people to easily find me... Start in the middle of the expo, locate the hottest girl around you, ask her where I am, and go in the direction she points you. Repeat every 5 miuntes or 2 aisles.

See you soon!

I'll be with The BEAST (Jenn Cowan), so the first part of your instructions is already taken care of...it should be pretty easy to find you.

If it is any consolation, your photos are worlds apart from Bill Dobbin's and much better. Dobbins is a great photographer, but he really concentrates too much on she-beast that are only of interest to muscle-fetishist/schmoes. Also, I really appreciate your work to put the model in an interesting environmental setting rather than just doing tricks with studio lighting. I think that takes more work and a better photographic eye than using the controlled setting of a studio.

Good luck on the next phase of your photography career. Looking forward to seeing the A-grade photos that you are holding back for your books and the future photos you take beyond the fitness arena.

Thanks much Dantelis! I try to avoid the whole Stutz::Dobbins comparison whenever possible. I don't see much similarity in our works or business model besides the fact that our subjects have more muscle than the average girl. I'm actively striving to achieve different goals from him and many other photographers. Ever notice that you've never seen my work in any magazines? There's a reason for that.

And don't worry, you won't have to wait much longer for the book. With any luck, I should be walking around the Arnold with a copy in my hands. That's a hefty 3-day workout since it weighs almost 9 lbs! I just hope I can hang onto it for the entire expo -- i'm not nearly as strong as the models you know! :-)